This is a request for funding for two symposia to be held as part of the Scientific Program of the Federation of the Association for Experimental Biology meeting to be held in New Orleans on April 19-24, 2002, sponsored by the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Alcohol Research Center. The symposia, entitled "Mechanisms of alcohol-induced tissue injury-" and "Neural immune mechanisms in innate host defense: Do they contribute to alcohol immunosupression?" are to be programmed under the auspices of the American Association of Investigative Pathologists and the International Society for Neuroimmunomodulation (respectively). These topics have been carefully selected by the members of the LSUHSC ARC and represent areas that merit further investigation, specifically, the interaction of comorbidity and alcohol abuse. Both symposia will be three to four hours in length and will include five and six speakers. Each scientific presentation will highlight recent advances in our understanding of the pathology associated with alcohol abuse and will identify areas of interest that need to be further explored with the recent methodological advances available. The goal of these symposia is to foster interdisciplinary discussions and enhance collaborations across the different disciplines in order to gain stronger scientific understanding of alcohol-induced disease. The scientists selected for participation come from a wide range of backgrounds and are at the forefront of their respective fields. This opportunity will encourage and support the participation of students and post-doctoral fellows in presenting work that is related to the topics featured in the symposia. Furthermore, active participation of trainees from the ARC-Xavier partnership will be strongly encouraged. Participation is expected to be maximal, given the large number of scientists from different disciplines that normally attend the FASEB meetings. The proceedings of these symposia will be published and a summary report to the NIAAA will be prepared.